EVODIUS OF ANTIOCH, ST.

Bishop of the primitive Church, d. c. 64. Eusebius mentions Evodius as the first bishop of Antioch (Chronology ad ann. 2058; Histoire ecclesiastique 3.22), following the chronicle of julius africanus (221); while Origen (Hom. 4 in Lc., Patrologia Graeca, ed. J. P. Migne 3:938) speaks of him as second bishop of Antioch after St. Peter. He was probably succeeded by ignatius of antioch, who speaks of himself as bishop of Syria, indicating that it was the only church in the region at that early date. No ancient document attests to the martyrdom of Evodius; and the attempt to connect him with the Evodias mentioned by St. Paul (Phil 4.2) fails before the fact that this person was almost certainly a woman. The sixth-century chronicler john malalas states that Evodius was the first to use the name Christian, and Nice-phorus Callistus (Histoire ecclesiastique 2.3) mentions Evodius as the author of several writings. But neither of these statements has historical foundation. Evodius is not mentioned in the martyrology of st. jerome, or in that of Bede; his name was introduced into the Martyrologium Romanum parvum by Ado and thence passed into the later martyrologies.

Feast: May 6 (Latin Church); April 28, June 30, Sept. 7 (Greek Church).

Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum May 2:98. g. salmon, A Dictionary of Christian Biography, ed. w. smith and h. wace, (London 1877–87) 2:428–429. r. aubert, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques (Paris 1912) 16:133. g. bardy, Catholicisme 4:834. a. von hauck, Geschichte der altchristlichen Litteratur, 2 v. in 4 (Leipzig 1893–1904) 1.2:781–782;2.1:116–122.

[j. hamrogue]